How artificial intelligence is used today

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become one of the most highly covered topics – people are keen to know what, if any, affect it will have on their jobs. In this article, we look at how AI is being used today and what impact it's having on jobs, based on some of the talks that took place at the 2017 Brighton SEO Conference.

Improving user experience with audio searches

Raj Nijjer, the VP at Yext, gave a talk about the ‘Future of Search’. The majority of his talk was about the importance of having the right facts on your website and getting reviews. Primarily because the way in which people search is expected to change, thanks to AI.

Raj predicted that by 2020, half of the searches made would be voice searches. We’re already seeing an increase in the use of voice-activated search, be that Amazon’s Alexa or Echo devices, Apple’s Siri software, or Microsoft’s Cortana. As these devices use AI to deliver results, based on the users questions, you need to be sure that the right information is listed on your website.

Images increase engagement too

And it’s not just audio that’s expected to make searching easier. Images have grown significantly and become more important than ever. In 2001, there were 250 million Google images. By 2010, this had grown to 10 billion. Therefore it’s not surprising that customers are 80% more likely to engage with content if relevant images are involved, according to Purna Virji, Senior Training Manager and Keynote speaker at Microsoft.

This growth means AI can use these images to improve searches - you can now search on Google by uploading an image. And if you’ve ever wanted to get more information about something but couldn’t think of what it’s called, you can now upload a picture of something to captionbot.ai and it will put words to the image for you. However, whilst this is helpful, it doesn’t always get it right which only proves there’s still a long way to go with AI.

Companies should be making the most of AI

During Raj’s talk, he revealed that intelligent services, such as voice and image searches, can result in up to 4.8 time more engagement. This can make a significant difference to your website traffic, if used in the right way.

Sephora recently introduced the ability to upload a picture of your face, to see what various make-up products, such as lipsticks, would look like. This improves the customer experience, as it saves people buying a product, only to realise it doesn’t match their skin tone or suit them.

In September 2016, Google introduced their Shop the Look experience. It works in conjunction with fashion bloggers, giving people ideas of potential outfits for particular events. If you find an outfit that you like, you’re then shown where you can buy the individual components of the look.

But you don’t have to limit your use of AI to new innovations such as these. You can also use it to improve your existing systems. As Will Cecil from Adapt Worldwide said when he spoke at the Brighton SEO event, “if something’s already efficient, automation is only going to make it even more efficient.”

How AI is being used today

Contrary to popular belief, the primary use for AI within businesses isn’t to replace human employees – it’s to enhance the customer experience and remove some of the more time-intensive tasks, so employees can focus on the more important aspects of their role.

Here at Computer Futures, we work with companies that are looking to implement AI into their everyday activities and highly skilled individuals looking for their next AI job. So, whatever your recruitment needs, contact us today and let us know what you’re looking for.